Can Customers Find Your Web Site?

Whether you design your own Web site or hire a designer, the most important result of having a site is the ability of potential customers to find it.  Most folks use Internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN to find items they are looking for.  The search engine finds relevant Web sites by matching search words to ones found in its database.  Search engines generally make databases by simply listing the words used in Web sites’ content and “metatags” (Web site source code.)

Most of you are familiar with the process where the customer types in the word or words describing what they want and pages of results appear, often giving several hundred thousand choices.  Most people only have the patience to look through the first two or three pages of results. 

How can you help your site come up in the top of search results? 
Three of the most important ways are:

1. Organic search engine placement:  This means constructing your site so the search engines naturally rank it highly.
2. Paid advertisement, both on the Internet and in print or other media
3. Linking from other Web sites

Site Checking Tools

You can find out the success of your advertising efforts by using some free site checkers that are available on the Web

1. http://www.instantposition.com/seotest.php Checker that scores your page for search engine optimization.
2. www.Yahoo.com  to find true placements.
3. http://www.trafficzap.com/index.php   Includes a variety of site-checking tools.
4. http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/  Tool for determining which key phrases are searched for most often.
5. http://www.scrubtheWeb.com/abs/meta-check.html  A metatag (Web site source code) analyzer.

[These links are listed as a convenience and do not imply an endorsement of their services.  We take no responsibility and give no guarantees or warranties, implied or otherwise, for content or accuracy of these third-party sites. ]

Web Site Optimization
The area that we have the most control over is the programming and content of our Web pages in order to help generate good organic search engine positioning.  In order to do that we must ensure that our site has two main items, proper metatags and good keyword-rich textual content. 

Metatags
You should decide which keywords are most important for your site.  (See our November 2003 IOL column.)   Then you need to include the most important keywords in your page titles, page descriptions, and keyword lists that appear in your metatag programming code. The keyword metatag is less important than it used to be, but some search engines still look at it. 

Textual Content

Body Text
Structure the text of your pages around your most important keywords and phrases. Emphasize that main keyword phrase in the first paragraph and in your main and sub headlines.  Each page in your site can emphasize one main keyword, e.g. saddles on one page, headstalls on another.

Text Links
When creating textual links, such as hyperlink references to your other Web pages, try to make the link a keyword, since the text within a link sometimes is valued more heavily by search engines than words found in the regular body text.

Alt Tag Text
An “alt tag” defines the text to display for a graphic if the user has graphics turned off on their computer. Search engines can see those words, but not pictures and some will catalog words in the alt tags.

Header Text
Use “H1 header” formatting instead of a larger font for text that contains a keyword. Search engines consider header content more descriptive of what is on the page, and weigh it more heavily.

Keyword Frequency
This is how often a keyword appears on the page. Try to have your one primary keyword phrase appear a total of 5 to 15 times in all areas of the page, including the title, body, link text, the alt text, and the header text.

Search Engine Submissions
When you have optimized your text be sure to submit your site to a number of major search engines and resubmit when you make major updates.

A version of this article appeared in Lee Raine's
Industry on Line Column in Equestrian Retailer magazine Nov/Dec 2006 issue.